World Politics Review

Commentary Week In Review


By Guy Taylor | 04 Aug 2007

The Commentary Week in Review is posted on the blog every Friday. Drawing from more than two dozen English-language news outlets worldwide, the column highlights a handful of the week's notable op-eds.

What Bush could learn about the Middle East from Napoleon, Peru's economic inequality, Japan's historic election, Poland's identity crisis and more.

Demands on Peru's Poor

Writing in the July 30 Miami Herald, Michael Shifter described the "profound social divisions" afflicting Peru where President Alan García has just completed the first year of his five-year term.

"García can at least have the peace of mind that his second term marks a vast improvement over the first," wrote Shifter, who asserted:

Peru's economy is not only under control but booming, growing at more than 8 percent annually. Insurgencies that had wracked the country no longer pose a serious threat. Even the poverty levels that rose sharply under García's first government are slowly falling. Yet, just as García's first presidency illuminated the most extreme of Latin America's problems in the late 1980s, today his administration provides a lens through which to view the major challenge now confronting the region: economic inequality. ...The demands and expectations of the poor are rising dramatically, and government institutions are woefully incapable of handling them.

Poland Is "Confused"

Poland these days is "confused," according to Dominique Moisi, who wrote in the August 1 Daily Star that the country "boasts one of the highest levels of popular acceptance of the EU among all member countries, yet is the place where defense of the 'national' interests is practiced most fiercely."

He elaborated:
To understand what went wrong with Poland, a comparison with Spain might be useful. In the nineteenth century, Europe's southern and eastern extremities were united by common decay. Poland had disappeared as an independent nation, the victim of its powerful neighbors' greed; Spain was a country that no longer mattered. This dual decline was a subject frequently discussed by historians across the continent. They generally emphasized the failure of both countries to adjust their political systems to the requirements of the times.

Furthermore, according to Moisi, Spain and Poland today "both appear to be experiencing a renaissance, thanks to the framework of European unity. Their economies are booming. Democracy has been restored after half-century of dictatorial disruption. Yet the buoyant self-confidence of today's Spain is completely absent from Poland."

Bush Could Learn From Napoleon

Richard Bulliet compared George W. Bush to Napoleon Bonaparte in the August 2 International Herald Tribune, writing that "both men launched spectacular attacks on Arab countries, won stunning initial victories, and then became bogged down in a hopeless military occupations."

"If Bush has the wisdom to do what Napoleon did, he may yet be remembered as a leader of historic stature," wrote Bulliet. "All he has to do is cut and run."

Bulliet explained:
If Napoleon had never gone on to become the Emperor of France and conquer most of Europe, his role in Middle Eastern history would still be celebrated. Even today, most historians date the beginning of the region's "modern" history to 1798. ...If the Napoleonic past has a lesson for Bush's future, it is that regardless of American planning, the regional struggle following the American withdrawal will determine the future of the region. But this does not preclude the realization of some of Bush's dreams of victory. In fact, it will be surprising if regional responses to post-withdrawal instability do not include openings toward democracy in some countries, and toleration of multiple ethnic and religious interests in others.

According to Bulliet, Napoleon's final message to Bush would be: "You've already made history. Now get out of the way and let it happen."

Japan's "Historic" Election Results

The result of Japan's recent parliamentary elections was "historic," according to Daniel Sneider, who noted in the August 1 Christian Science Monitor how for the first time since the conservative Liberal Democratic Party was formed in 1955, an opposition party "has become the largest party in the upper house."

"The powerful message delivered by Japanese voters has significant implications not only for Japan but also for the rest of the world, not least for its close ally, the United States," Sneider wrote. "The election result revives momentum in Japan toward creation of a viable two-party system, potentially ending the conservative postwar monopoly on power."

"Japanese voters expressed deep anxiety about the impact of economic change upon their treasured social order," he went on. "They embraced the campaign of the Democratic Party (the main opposition) against growing income inequality and the failure of the state to take care of an aging population."

Musharraf's Fight for Survival

Randeep Ramesh argued in the August 2 Guardian that while it appears Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's days in power are numbered, the "military dictator remains the best bet for peace in the region."

"The bloody showdown at the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), the suicide bombings in the capital Islamabad, the popular support for the chief justice, and the rising discontent with the general's writ all point to the end of this phase of military rule," Ramesh wrote.

But for the moment, he argued, Musharraf still holds the keys to the lock on the Pakistan's regional political strategy. He explained:
What is being worked out now in Pakistan, sometimes smoothly but mostly chaotically, is an internal consensus on governance. There's no doubt that a military government in Pakistan can find political partners from its opponents to legitimise itself again. Delhi remains silent on this process, knowing its intervention will only make matters worse.

Furthermore, Ramesh asserted, while "the rugged ranges of the Afghan border remain in the west's sights, Pakistan's 'core issue' is the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir."

"India and Musharraf's Pakistan are close enough to do a deal," he wrote. "The problem is one of trust. Pakistan has not shut down its anti-Indian militant organisations and the Indian army remains entrenched. The Indian government concedes that jihadi infiltration from Pakistani Kashmir has dropped and the Indian state has been noticeably quieter in the past few months. But there's no rush in New Delhi for conflict resolution."

The Commentary Week In Review draws from links aggregated every weekday morning in WPR's Media Roundup, which you can receive by email for free by registering now.